The Big Society has refocused attention on the role for communities in shaping and potentially delivering local public services.

David Cameron has described proposals for the Big Society as "the biggest, most dramatic redistribution of power" from government to citizens. Plans include new powers and opportunities for community groups to get involved in running local services.

Local authorities in Sutton, Windsor and Maidenhead, Eden Valley in Cumbria, and Liverpool will be "Big Society Communities" - selected to work with the government to put ideas about community empowerment and activism into practice. Many of the local projects in these areas will involve communities in decisions about prioritising, planning or running public services. Windsor and Maidenhead has proposed to involve residents in participatory budgeting for spending on parks, delegating budgets to streets and increasing transparency
about local spending decisions. In Liverpool volunteers will be involved in running museums and Sutton will provide opportunities for residents to influence the provision of local public transport.

It is widely acknowledged by councils and public agencies that drawing on local knowledge and users' experience can do much to improve public services. This type of community and user involvement will become increasingly important as widespread spending cuts force local authorities to make difficult decisions about service priorities. As a result, there is growing interest among local authorities in the potential for residents, community groups and local social enterprises to take on a greater role in the design and delivery of public services.

Many communities will welcome these opportunities. The Young Foundation has worked with community groups, social enterprises and parish councils in Wiltshire, Sheffield, Birmingham, Suffolk and many other places around the country that are already developing and delivering innovative responses to local needs. Community shops and cafes, befriending services for elderly residents, estate maintenance and management, gardening,
IT training, co-operative childcare and recycling schemes, are among the many services being offered by community organisations and enterprises.

However, new powers and freedoms for communities will also raise practical issues about communities having the capacity for involvement, decision-making and accountability, access, equality and risk management for local authorities; and questions about whether government is passing the burden for managing and delivering services to communities and the voluntary sector.

In this paper we explore these issues in detail and sets out a framework for greater community involvement in designing, managing, commissioning and delivering local public services. The paper is based on four years of research and practical work with local authorities, agencies and communities to understand what works in community empowerment and to encourage local social innovation.

Download a full pdf of the paper.